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Hey All!

Over the past few weeks Silbo has continued his way past the Cape Verde archipelago and on into the open ocean. Progress has been slow however as the currents have been strong to the North, North-West and North-East; the opposite of what we see as ideal.

After rounding the most western island of Cape Verde and fighting a pretty strong head current as we tried to make progress south, we moved the way point out west to try and increase the ground covered between surfacings. By doing so, we are trying to take a more northern route across the Atlantic so that at the later end of the mission, we are in better shape for an emergency recovery off of Brazil rather than being stuck in the middle of the ocean.

Another reason behind this decision, is that at the moment, we have very little options for routes to the south. For weeks now, the current in our vicinity has largely been flowing to the North. So as we slowly make progress, we are hoping to find an outlet that may help us in the direction we want to go.

Unfortunately, our road maps are not always as reliable as we would like. Of the three different ocean models that we have been using throughout the mission, all three are showing a current that disagrees with what Silbo is showing us. While Silbo is showing the currents moving to the north in a pretty strong jet, the RTOFS, MyOcean and NCOM models all show a current flowing to the south:

Real Time Ocean Forecast System Sea Surface Height & Currents

NCOM Currents & NLOM Sea Surface Height

MyOcean Sea Surface Height & Averaged Currents 0-1000 m

MyOcean Sea Surface Height & Averaged Currents 0-1000 m

As the current continues to look unfavorable, Silbo and our team will persist in our attempts to fight back and try and make progress towards Brazil. Hopefully a new path will reveal itself soon and Silbo can coast a little after fighting for so long.